


Long Sleeves in Texas

by laelreenia



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Cutting, Gen, Sadstuck, Self Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-14
Updated: 2013-01-14
Packaged: 2017-11-25 13:26:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laelreenia/pseuds/laelreenia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a reason Dave wears long sleeve shirts in the middle of a hot Texas summer</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Sleeves in Texas

**Author's Note:**

> THIS STORY INVOLVES SELF HARM IF YOU FEEL YOU MAY BE TRIGGERED PLEASE DO NOT READ FURTHER YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED I KNOW FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THIS CAN BE A TOUCHY SUBJECT!  
> Edit: I have been asked multiple times about a sequel to this. That will not be happening. This was meant to be a one shot and it will stay a one shot.

Dave sighed, as he pulled the sleeves of his shirt down over his Band-Aid covered arms. Turning on the water to rinse the blood out of the sink, he slid the stainless blade he had used, under the flow to clean it off as well. Satisfied that there was no trace of his self-destructive activities left, he exited the bathroom. Bro would be home soon, not that it mattered, he wouldn’t be home for long, he never was. 

Dave sighed, and sat down at the kitchen table. Bro would be home any minute, hopefully, with food. However, an hour later Dave realised that he had been, once again, more or less forgotten about. Feeling his stomach start to complain he pulled out his phone to message Bro.

TG: where are you  
Bro: out  
TG: you said you were gonna bring home food douche  
Bro: right, i’ll grab something on my way home  
TG: and when will that be  
Bro: i dunno i’m a little high right now  
TG: really  
TG: bro just come home

Dave wanted to cry, but that wasn’t cool, not that he was much good at being cool in the first place. Was it too much to ask to spend more that ten minutes a week with his Bro. And that was on a good week. A quick strife and then he was gone again.

Bro: i can’t kid, i’m out with friends can’t just ditch em

“But you can ditch me?” Dave muttered. Feeling that wretched helpless feeling start to fill him again Dave returned to the bathroom. His phone vibrated again with another text.

Bro: i can’t stay cooped up in an apartment with a hormonal faggot all day now can i

Ouch, Dave didn’t think Bro realised how much some of the things he said hurt. Dave set his phone down on the edge of the sink, and knelt down to take his knife out from under a loose tile on the bathroom floor.

Dave removed the knife from it’s hiding place and setting it on the sink next to his phone, he moved over to lock the bathroom door, just in case Bro did come home while Dave was in the middle of things. Today had been a shit day, and he was beyond the point of caring.

TG: dude i know you dont like me but could you not insult me  
Bro: where’s all this emotional shit comin from  
TG: no fucking clue  
TG: sorry for dampening your highs with my lows  
Bro: thought i taught you not to show emotion, guess you’re not as good a learner as I thought  
TG: fuck off

Dave took of his shades, squeezing his eyes shut, tears threatening to leak through. He put his phone down, and pulled up his sleeves to begin peeling off the Band-Aids from earlier.

Bro: wow

Dave examined the cuts on his arms, some of them were still bleeding, but it didn’t really make a difference, there were just going to be more anyways. He slid the knife across the back of his wrist twice, before picking up his phone to answer Bro. A drop of blood landed on the screen, he wiped it off with his thumb.

TG: just stay out all night  
TG: i don’t care  
TG: i’ll get myself something later

Though in all honesty Dave knew he wouldn’t bother, he’d lost his appetite completely.

Bro: so hardcore little man, not caring about your bro  
TG: you dont care about me  
Bro: wait  
Bro: hold up  
Bro: what’s wrong?  
TG: arent you out with friends or some shit  
Bro: we’re in between things right now  
Bro: thinkin about headin to a club  
TG: cool  
TG: try to stay alive i guess

Dave ran a black wash cloth under the faucet with the water as hot as he could get it. Before harshly rubbing the rough fabric up and down over the cuts on his arms. Aggravating them to make them bleed more.

His phone vibrated again, and Dave hesitated a bit before finally answering it.

Bro: i really do care about you though.  
TG: shut the fuck up  
Bro: ouch man  
TG: its cool if you dont come home for a few days  
TG: not like im used to it or anything  
TG: you obviously dont care enough about me to worry  
Bro: Dave you’re makin me upset here  
Bro: I REALLY do care about you  
TG: you have emotions?  
TG: that’s a shocker  
TG: i thought you were just set to asshole all the time  
Bro: im sorry  
TG: you do that just sit there on your ass and be sorry  
TG: ill sit here on my ass and be all self destructive and shit  
TG: as usual  
Bro: Dave I...  
TG: long sleeves shirts in texas  
TG: guess why big bro  
Bro: oh god. I am so fucking sorry, 

Dave stood, leaning on the sink so he wouldn’t get blood on his clothes. He looked up at the mirror to see that his eyes were puffy and his cheeks were streaked with tears. When had he started crying? He sniffed, and returned to message Bro.

TG: how the fuck am i supposed to know if youre serious or not  
TG: i dont fucking know anymore  
TG: i can never tell if youre fucking with me or not  
TG: im tired of always waiting for you to come home  
TG: because you never do

Dave wet the towel again, this time with cold water, and began wiping off the cuts so he could put Band-Aids on them again. He was halfway done with the Band-Aids when his phone buzzed again.

Bro: I’m so sorry,  
Bro: I cannot begin to express how guilty I feel  
Bro: I have been an unbelievably shitty guardian  
TG: would it hurt to hang around for more than 30 seconds at a time  
TG: to actually spend time with me rather than just beat me up and leave  
TG: i fucking miss you  
Bro: i don’t know what to say  
TG: i was nine fucking years old  
TG: the first time you left me to fend for my fucking self  
TG: you were never there when i needed you  
Bro: shit I was trying to make sure you had the shit you needed  
Bro: I was working like three jobs at the time before I got the website up and running proper  
TG: it doesnt matter  
TG: im not good enough,  
TG: i never was  
Bro: shit dave, i totally lost that high. i don’t know what the fuck to say

Dave snorted, way to be tactful Bro. He set down his phone and finished bandaging his arm. Dave pulled down his sleeve and picked up his phone.

Bro: I’m coming home  
TG: you don’t have to  
Bro: yes I do.  
Bro: god I just feel so fucking shitty right now.  
TG: sorry  
TG: if i didn’t exist this wouldnt have fuckin happened  
TG: sorry  
Bro: Dave I’ve been a shitty guardian you aren’t the problem

Dave sunk down to the floor, letting his head fall back against the wall with a dull thud.

TG: no im the shitty one  
TG: and yes, im the problem,  
TG im always the problem  
Bro: Dave that’s not it at all. You have never been the problem.  
TG: fuck, i shouldn’t have said anything  
TG: don’t come home  
TG: i know youd rather hang with your friends

-switch to Bro’s perspective-

Bro ran his hand over his face, like Dave he was sitting in a bathroom, unlike Dave he had gone in to get away from his friends so he could have a conversation with Dave. He slid on his glasses, and left the bathroom. “I gotta go, we can hang some other time,” Bro told his friends, and he was met with various protests as to why he should stay. ”Gotta get home to my bro, promised him I’d bring food.”

“You have a brother?”

The question floored him, did he really talk about Dave so little that his own friends didn’t even realize he had a brother?

“Yeah, he’s thirteen,” with that Bro left, sending another text Dave’s way

Bro: What do you want Dave?  
TG: honestly? to die would be nice.

Bro’s eyes widened behind his shades, fuck getting food he was going home now.

-back to Dave’s perspective (it will be switching frequently now)-

Dave sighed, standing up. Leaving the bathroom, dave headed out to the window next to the fire escape, climbing out and up the stairs to the roof. He looked around at the broken swords that cluttered the roof. before walking over and sitting crosslegged next to the ledge that wound around the edges of the roof.

TG: i want you not to hate me.  
Bro: I don’t hate you, I NEVER hated you.  
TG: whatever, you never seem to want me around.  
TG: just spending time with you would be nice  
Bro: I’m trying Dave, I’m on my way home right fucking now.  
TG: im sorry  
Bro: I’ve been trying for years, but I’ve been so fucking busy,  
TG: i sound like such a fucking failure  
TG: sorry  
Bro: Dave I’m crying here,  
Bro: don’t apologize  
Bro: I’m the one who should be apologizing, not you  
TG: i should be sorry though  
TG: im fuckin makin you come home when you clearly dont want to  
TG: i should be fuckin old enough to be fine on my own  
TG im fuckin 13  
TG you were right I guess im not as good at this shit as i thought  
TG: im really sorry Bro  
Bro: I can’t do this. Fuck.  
TG: its my fault, im sorry  
Bro: It’s not your fault.  
TG: yeah it really fucking is  
TG: im just one big screw up  
Bro: no you’re not, do you have any idea how much hearing you say those things hurts?  
TG: im sorry  
TG: ill just leave when you get home  
Bro: no.  
TG: so you can think and shit.  
Bro: no, absolutely fucking not.  
TG: ill only fuck things up if im around  
Bro: no you are staying right where you are.  
TG: im the reason you have to have more than one job in the first place  
Bro: Dave...

Dave looked at the ledge, leaning over to look at the ground below, the cars looked like toys from 30 stories up.

TG: maybe i should just jump

-switch to Bro!-

Bro’s eyes widened in horror, and he broke into a run, “no, dave please, no.”

He screached to a stop, narrowly avoiding running into oncoming traffic.

Bro: Dave no.  
Bro: DAVE DON’T! PLEASE!  
TG: why not itd be so simple  
Bro: oh god, please tell me youre not on the roof  
TG: just another teen suicide  
TG: nothing new  
TG: you dont love me  
TG: how *could* you love someone like me  
TG: ive ruined so much for you  
Bro: dont you dare  
TG: why not!

Bro started running again as soon as the light changed, still trying to keep up responding to Dave, he couldn’t lose his brother, he couldn’t.

Bro: you are so importnat to me  
TG: really I never would have guessed  
Bro: i wouldn’t be runing this fuckin fast to get home if you werent  
TG: do you care about me or what you would have to deal with if i killed myself  
Bro: you are the most important fucking thing in my life Dave,  
TG: haven’t noticed  
TG: not that we ever talk  
TG: its more you come home for five ten minutes at a time  
TG then beat me up and leave

Bro bit his lip, he was almost there, so close, a few more blocks and he would be able to see the apartment building.

Bro: shit im so sorry dave please dont do this  
Bro: im coming home im on my way home right now  
Bro: dont do anything to hurt yourself.  
TG: too late  
Bro let out a choked sob, and kept running, to say that he felt like shit was a vast understatement.

Bro: please just go back inside  
Bro: wait for me ill be home soon  
TG: sorry  
Bro: ill make it up to you i promise  
Bro: i dont know how but i will  
TG: im nothing great  
TG: you havent missed much.  
Bro: havent mised much? hell i’ve missed over five years of your life.  
TG: im nothing special  
Bro: you are very special Dave  
TG: i get good grades and stay out of trouble  
TG: im inside  
TG: im nothing important  
Bro: you are very special to me, and very important to me.  
Bro: life without you would be utter shit

When Bro reached the building he let out a sigh of relief, and ran inside to the elevator. ‘Out of Order’. “Fucking fantastic,” he muttered as he made a mad dash up the stairs.

TG: just get home i guess its starting to get dark  
TG: we can talk tomorrow i guess  
TG: if youre still around  
TG: what with you being high and all  
Bro: the high is gone i said that  
Bro: im on the second fucking floor ill be up soon

That was the last of their texting conversation as Bro sprinted up the remaining twenty-seven flights of stairs to the top floor. Stopping at the door only momentarily to catch his breath, Bro unlocked the door and went inside.

Dave was standing awkwardly by the entrance to the hall, and it was all Bro could do to stop of breaking down then and there, from the sheer relief that Dave was alright. Moving over to him Bro wrapped his arms around Dave pulling him into a tight hug, and he let himself cry. “I’m so sorry Dave, I’ll fix things, I promise.”

Dave didn’t say anything he just started sobbing into Bro’s chest. Bro was here, and he cared, for the moment, things were looking a hell of a lot brighter than they had before.


End file.
